Shoaib Akhtar BANNED for 5 Years

[cochise]

Poor Kolkata.

[talksport]

Akhtar, Agarkar and Ganguly ...and Ganguly will outbowl AA

[cochise]

And AA will score more boundaries bowling than G.

[Sachinism]

loll this guy is a joke he gets given so many chances and he keeps on f'ing up it seems to be on a lot of websites, so could be true

[Ram]

I can see a Shoaib Press conference coming, where he, as usual, protests complete innocence and ignorance of anything, talks absolute nonsense about how he always wanted to serve Pakistan cricket and finishes off contradicting himself saying that he has lots of other options to pursue. That guy is better off being the subject of a super-hit movie or a best-selling autobiography. There's been so much drama in his life. I'd say ' Good Riddance, Bud' and move on. World cricket, and specifically Pakistan cricket, can do without this drama-king.

[Ram]

Can Akhtar play for the IPL ? I have my doubts. I know that he cant play county cricket anymore coz the Counties themselves need a ' No Objection Certificate' from the PCB, which the PCB wont give coz obviously he has been banned. Since IPL is the officially sanctioned 20/20 league, I am pretty sure it needs NOCs from the parent-boards too. I think PCB has deliberately timed this to hit Shoaib where it hurts, financially.

[Ram]

Shoaib given five-year suspension Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has been banned for five years by the Pakistan Cricket Board following a disciplinary hearing in Rawalpindi. The 32-year-old, who was on a two-year probation for attacking team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat, was charged with publicly criticising the PCB. "We felt his presence damaged Pakistan cricket's image," the PCB said. The ban covers international matches and domestic games in Pakistan but not the Twenty20 Indian Premier League. Shoaib has been plagued by injury and controversy since he began his international career in November 1997. He was twice sidelined over throwing allegations and was also banned for a breach of code on tour and ball-tampering. In October 2006 he was given a two-year suspension for testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone but this was later rescinded on appeal. There was more consternation in the build-up to the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 with the Asif altercation, which resulted in a ban of 13 international matches, a fine and the probation, for a total of five disciplinary breaches. Then in January this year he was dropped from Pakistan's list of 15 contracted players. He was offered a special retainer but refused to sign, and the nature of his comments proved the final straw for the PCB, who could have implemented an immediate life ban. "The board has lost confidence in Shoaib Akhtar," chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf said. However, Ashraf described the outcome as a "sad day for me and for Shoaib Akhtar. He is such a talented player." The chairman added that Akhtar had the right to appeal against the decision. Whether the colourful fast bowler will do that successfully and add to his 178 wickets from 46 Tests and 219 one-day international wickets from 138 matches remains to be seen. On the field Shoaib, nicknamed "The Rawalpindi Express" had occasional moments of brilliance, helping to deflate England after their 2005 Ashes victory by taking 17 wickets to inspire a 2-0 series victory for Pakistan. He also had a good record against the all-conquering Australians, taking five wickets in an innings on three occasions. Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria was also charged with statements against the board, but was issued with a reprimand and a warning. Kaneria had criticised his central contract demotion from category B to C in an online column, but later blamed a newspaper for publishing his words out of context. "Since this was Kaneria's first offence on discipline, he has been severely reprimanded and barred from issuing any press statements," Ashraf said. ---------------- http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/pakistan/7323360.stm

[riya]

The guys is a chucker who was very lucky to play in the international cricket . Now this 5 year ban is a joke ,i can tell u .

[chanakya]

he can appeal against this. He will and win. DNA will be kicked out of the office anyway

[Bumper]

Banned for five years ?:haha: Wait till India or Australia sets foot on Pak soil, for the ban to be revoked. Methinks Shoaib will likely be back by the ICC CT or even as early as the Asia cup.

[kumble_rocks]

Much ado about nothing . The ban will not hold. Hanif Abbasi, a newly-elected member of parliament already has stated that people in power messrs Asraf and co who have banned him will not stay in power for long with the new government in. Plus the issue will be discussed in parliament. So , he will be back ....

[Predator_05]

Surely this is an April Fool's gag

[Cricketics]

actually i am sad to see this.. seriouzly. i wanted their so called "AAG" attack which consist of Actor,Asif, Gul. to atleast play few games together, so that their bowling can be exposed which has been alredy over hyped by paki fanz..they feel AAG attack is the best

[Gambit]

And Actor bades farewell with career averages of 36(AUS) and 35(IND) against the two best batting lineups he's bowled against.

[talksport]

Miss him....SOme of his Test spells are breath taking

[killerspud]

Wow!!! Does this mean that Shoab will not be able to take up his IPL contract???? If so then it is a really costly mistake (I wonder if he can still play in the ICL given it is out of ICC juristiction) In any case its a big story cricketnut.com

[riya]

And Actor bades farewell with career averages of 36(AUS) and 35(IND) against the two best batting lineups he's bowled against.

Come on their bans are meant for '' Lifting '':hysterical:. Now three big points .PCB is center of attraction once again.Shaoib Akhtar the ever green ''actor '' in the news for the wrong reasons once again . Then he can appeal and back into the team once again . All in all they want to be in the news always . Come on ,they are a pity side as far as cricket is concerned .so they found reasons to make it into the news .

[Dravid]

He will be back soon probably.. pcb is a drama whore

[Inside_edge]

Last I checked it remains the same formidable GAND attack (Gul, Asif, Akhtar , Naveed, Danish) , it was before

[fineleg]

Actor will be back. PCB is a circus, and all these bans are hogwash. They will lift it soon.